The Hunger Games

[creek_chub]

Ok, I mentioned this is the Twilight thread and I guess the mere mentioning is what gained us this new forum (*sings* "I've got the power!") Haha, just kidding...it's Friday and I'm in a silly mood.

Anyway, has anyone read these books? They're teen fiction, set in the future of America, which has turned into a rather dystopian society. I picked up the first one at the suggestion from my husband, who had already read them. From a technical standpoint, the writing is average. However, the story sucked me in so much that I devoured all three books in a matter of days. Unfortunately, reading them so fast, and having finished the last one on Thanksgiving (yes, I ignored my family to read, lol...they're used to it) I don't remember many details. Just that I thought these books were a good read with an interesting message. I plan on getting them on my Nook to re-read (loaned out my physical copies and don't expect to see them back) so I'd love to start a discussion with others who have read or are reading them.

[Artisticmom2]

These were suggested to my preteen by our youth pastor and I read them first. They were great. The reading level wasn't difficult, and the story was very gripping. I hear they're making a movie out of it. They probably won't do the books justice though.

[Honeybee]

I haven't read the books, but yeah, the movie casting is getting a huge amount of publicity. It's considered the next "Twilight" - and all that. And apparently, the cast is large.

[creek_chub]

Yeah, I'm excited and apprehensive about the movie. I think the story would lend itself pretty well to a movie adaptation, since it's basically about a TV show (to put it mildly) so I'm not too worried about that aspect. I do have specific images in my head, though, of the characters, so I hope they do justice with the casting.

[Misplaced]

I've read them, on the recommendation of a friend who reads and writes YA. The first person POV and present tense were a bit jarring for me, so it took me a bit to get into it. It was a good story. I liked this better than the "Twilight" series, but still not my usual cup o' novel.

[Artisticmom2]

Considering the book is about a tv show that part should translate well into movie format. My biggest concern is that parts will get altered, for whatever reason, from what was written in the book. It is my personal pet peeve when script writers do that. One of the best examples of that was when HP #1 was made. Hagrid got his 3 headed dog from a Greek man in the book. In the movie Hagrid got it from an Irish guy. Stupid things like that make me want to whack someone in the head!

[creek_chub]

I can handle things being changed to a certain extent, but it drives me nuts when the movie bears absolutely no resemblance to the book. The worst book-to-movie I've ever experienced was Queen of the Damned (and incidentally, the best I've ever experienced was Interview With the Vampire, the screenplay of which Anne Rice insisted on writing...unfortunately, they waved away her attempts to do so with Queen of the Damned.)

I just found some stills of the movie on IMDB...so far I'm pleased. Peeta was a favorite of mine, so I was concerned they'd get some prettyboy type actor and totally ruin my image of him, but the guy they got seems ok. The girl to play Katniss isn't quite what I imagined, but is probably closer to what the author imagined, lol. However, the guy to play Gale is almost exactly my image of him. The actor is a little more muscular (I pictured Gale as a little more wiry) but the face...wow, spot on.

To bring this back to the actual book series. I feel like the last book, Mockingjay, was the weakest of the three. I really think the author could have drawn out the tension instead of wrapping up all the loose ends so quickly. Anybody else feel that way?

[tish]

As my daughter and four eldest nieces are entralled with this series of books, my son got me the complete hardback set for Christmas, since I expressed interest.

I have not read them yet, so did not read the above posts, so wil be back once I am done to comment. I love new books!

[Brandyjane]

I read the first one around Thanksgiving when my husband was driving us to and from my parents' house. I liked it quite a bit, and I think it will make an interesting movie. As others have said, the writing is pretty average, but the story is great! The one thing that really bugged me was the fact that the author wrote in present tense. After a while I managed to tune that out, but every once in a while I would notice it again and it would take me a while to get over it. I don't know if the author was just trying to be different or if she thought it would draw us into the story more, but it just didn't work. It made me more aware that I was reading a story, not less, distancing me from the character at times. I haven't read the other two yet. I probably will eventually, but my middle school students all said they weren't as good as the first book.

[Misplaced]

I agree with you, Brandyjane. I use present tense sometimes in my stories--but they're always short. Every time I sat down to read the trilogy, I had to get past the use of present tense before I could get into the story.